What you are speaking of can be termed in one very powerful word: SELF-SUFFICIENCY.(Maybe that's two. I don't know. I wasn't an English major)LOL

We are only "QWARR" to those who are ignorant of our culture. To me, those kind of people don't matter.

At this point in my life, I have no use for local government or law enforcement and my shotgun is still very capable of solving most problems.LOL

Yes, it's all a dream here in Blount County. But our ancestor did come here FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE for a reason and there are better places to live than here. If I decide to go WEST, it will be in the tradition of OUR ancestors who came here through great toil and perseverance.

The only reason that I brought the whole "racial slur" thing up wasn't to attack you, but rather to make a point. Most people who have a problem with using racial slurs (progressives, liberals) have no problem using the slurs "hillbilly" and "redneck". I have a problem with the double standard not the actual slurs.

Trust me when I say that I don't have a problem with racial slurs. I use them as much as possible.LOL

But we should always be respectful to those who show respect and I would never want to hurt someone's feelings. They might have a shotgun too! LOL

I think that is important to let you know that my Mother's side of the family can be traced back to the first two white settlers into Tuckaleeche Cove (Townsend).1729

Also, although my Dad's side of the family is only four generations deep in Blount County, his roots can be traced back to Monroe and McMinn County around 1740.

Think about this: If you are from here and have ancestry that is truly Blount in origin, then you've probably got some Cherokee blood in your ancestry. That puts our roots nearly 7,000 years deep! WOW! Think about that for a minute.

"Heredity is nothing, but stored environment."
-Luther Burbank 1849-1926, American Horticulturist

"If your descent is from heroic sires, show in your life a remnant of their fires." -Nicholas Boileau 1636-1711

"My ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they were there to meet the boat." -Will Rogers 1879-1935

"What is a rebel? A man who says no." -Albert Camus 1913-1960, French Existential Writer

"Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion."
-Scottish Proverb Sayings of Scottish Origin

"The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man, -- you who have lived seventy years, not without honor of a kind, -- I hear an irresistible voice which invites me away from all that." -Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862

"You are Your Own Cousin."

Would that be a follow up to "I'm my own grandpa"?